Wind energy is clearly B.C.’s clean choice

British Columbians have consistently called for an energy system that is independent, low-impact and as affordable as possible.

For many decades, the province has benefited significantly from the abundant and affordable supply of hydroelectricity provided through dams built by BC Hydro between the 1920s and the 1980s. Demand now significantly exceeds these aging sources of supply. Even with strong conservation efforts keeping per household electricity consumption constant, overall demand is predicted to increase in line with population and economic growth. Moreover, a much larger surge in the province’s energy demand is now underway as energy-intensive industrial development — natural gas extraction, new mines, and liquefied natural gas (LNG) export facilities — begins to take place across northern B.C.

As such, one of the biggest decisions facing the province today is how B.C.’s rapidly widening energy gap will be supplied. One option is to meet this increased energy demand by building large new fossil fuel power plants, just as we did when we built the Burrard Thermal Plant 60 years ago. But there is a second and much better option: producing clean, emissions-free electricity from wind energy in order to meet B.C.’s expanding future needs.

Even those who choose to ignore climate change cannot ignore the increased emphasis on climate action in international trade: witness the Keystone pipeline controversy, or the recent groundbreaking U.S.-China agreement. For trade access reasons alone, B.C. cannot afford to develop new industrial opportunities — including LNG — in isolation from the province’s greenhouse gas reduction targets and climate action goals. This won’t be easy, but it is possible with leadership and vision. More specifically, it is possible by investing in renewable energy and B.C.’s transmission grid to bring new low-cost, zero-emission energy.

Wind power is our best option for new low-cost and low-impact energy supply in this province. Wind energy can meet new energy demand that is cost-competitive with any alternative supply, strengthen our existing sustainable electricity system and play a crucial role in limiting this province’s greenhouse gas emissions.

Wind energy is already a valued contributor to B.C.’s electricity system with 390 MW of installed wind energy capacity. Dawson Creek’s Bear Mountain Wind Park, the Dokie Wind Farm beyond Chetwynd, and the Quality Wind Farm on the road to Tumbler Ridge already contribute clean, renewable electricity to the provincial electricity grid. New projects like the Cape Scott Wind Farm currently under construction on northern Vancouver Island are also being developed — but these projects barely hint at the overall potential in B.C.

Onshore and offshore, B.C.’s wind energy resources greatly exceed total current demand for electricity, and they have never been more affordable. Three months ago, BC Hydro reported the cost of wind turbines has dropped by 20 to 30 per cent since 2009, even as technology improvements have allowed these turbines to produce 19 per cent more power from the same onshore wind energy resources previously assessed by the utility.

Wind energy is the ideal complement to B.C.’s existing hydro-dependent electricity system. B.C.’s wind energy resources produce more electricity in winter, when demand for power is at its highest and there is less water available to generate hydroelectricity. Better yet, we have the potential to integrate 6,000 MW of wind-generated electricity at minimal cost within BC Hydro’s existing and planned hydroelectric facilities, so wind-generated power is available when it’s needed. In fact, combining new wind energy resources with B.C.’s heritage hydroelectric resources will create a stronger hybrid electricity system better suited to the needs of the province than the system in place today.

Finally, wind energy not only reduces greenhouse gas emissions, but also protects local communities and the natural environment from the air pollutants produced by natural gas generation — something of increasing concern to local residents, given the sheer scale of energy demanded and the constricted nature of the local airsheds in which these new industrial developments are being proposed.

Decades ago, B.C. residents’ support for developing the province’s large hydroelectric resources led to today’s low-cost and low-emission — albeit aging and outgrown — electricity system. Today, B.C. has a new natural resource advantage in its abundant and cost-competitive wind energy resources. Integrated with the province’s heritage hydroelectric infrastructure, wind energy can create a strong, cost-effective energy supply for B.C.’s growing economy, optimally suited for both the opportunities and the challenges of the century to come.

Nicholas Heap is the BC regional director of the Canadian Wind Energy Association (CanWEA), which advocates for the responsible and sustainable development of wind power in Canada on behalf of 400 member organizations.

Comments

We encourage all readers to share their views on our articles and blog posts. We are committed to maintaining a lively but civil forum for discussion, so we ask you to avoid personal attacks, and please keep your comments relevant and respectful. If you encounter a comment that is abusive, click the "X" in the upper right corner of the comment box to report spam or abuse. We are using Facebook commenting. Visit our FAQ page for more information.

Share

Wind energy is clearly B.C.’s clean choice

Video

Business Videos

Best of Postmedia

Be afraid. Be very afraid. Ignore the diversions in the United States: athletes kneeling or standing during the national anthem; Republicans flailing and failing again on health care; a kick-boxing creationist possibly becoming senator from Alabama. Calamity looms elsewhere. We are hurtling toward war with North Korea. It may be as early as next month. […]

It wasn’t in the middle of a farmer’s muddy field or deep in the boreal forest where the Canadian oilsands truly struck pay dirt. It was inside Fort McMurray’s recreation centre. More than 1,400 oilpatch workers, corporate executives, provincial leaders and the country’s prime minister assembled 21 years ago in northern Alberta to grasp a […]

Google’s powerful search engine is defeating some court-ordered publication bans in Canada and undermining efforts to protect young offenders and victims. Computer experts believe it’s an unintended, “mind-boggling” consequence of Google search algorithms. In six high-profile cases documented by the Citizen, searching the name of a young offender or victim online pointed to media coverage […]

Almost Done!

Postmedia wants to improve your reading experience as well as share the best deals and promotions from our advertisers with you. The information below will be used to optimize the content and make ads across the network more relevant to you. You can always change the information you share with us by editing your profile.

By clicking "Create Account", I hearby grant permission to Postmedia to use my account information to create my account.

I also accept and agree to be bound by Postmedia's Terms and Conditions with respect to my use of the Site and I have read and understand Postmedia's Privacy Statement. I consent to the collection, use, maintenance, and disclosure of my information in accordance with the Postmedia's Privacy Policy.

Postmedia wants to improve your reading experience as well as share the best deals and promotions from our advertisers with you. The information below will be used to optimize the content and make ads across the network more relevant to you. You can always change the information you share with us by editing your profile.

By clicking "Create Account", I hearby grant permission to Postmedia to use my account information to create my account.

I also accept and agree to be bound by Postmedia's Terms and Conditions with respect to my use of the Site and I have read and understand Postmedia's Privacy Statement. I consent to the collection, use, maintenance, and disclosure of my information in accordance with the Postmedia's Privacy Policy.